In A World of Their Own (5x10) Dean storms out after arguing with his father about Cornell. He goes to Clark's house and ends up getting advice from an unlikely source - Sophie Lane, another omega - who helps put things in perspective.

Essentially, I've been wanting to write an A/B/O family drama novel and haven't had the time, so I'm doing it with fanfiction instead!


A World of Their Own

Sophie Lane was just about to wake Izzy from her late afternoon nap when a knock sounded on her front door. Of all the options she imagined on her way to the door, Dean Parker on her steps wasn't one of them.

"Hey Mrs. Lane, is Clark back from his cello lesson yet?" Dean smiled at her, but his shoulders were tense and his hands were fidgeting with his belt loops. The lack of jacket given the weather finalized her suspicion's level at high.

"No, not yet," Sophie glanced at her watch. Clark wouldn't be finished for another 30 minutes and Ed was picking him up. Something she was certain Dean knew just as well as here. "He won't be back for another hour probably."

Dean nodded, rocked back on his heels, "I'll just call him later then." He got one step before Sophie registered the shake in his voice and the acidity of his scent. He was upset.

"You're welcome to wait for him." Sophie watched the boy hesitate before nodding. He took a seat at the counter and she decided to let Izzy sleep in favor of leaning on the other side of the island. "So, what's new?"

Troubled teenage boys needed guidance. Dean Parker wasn't overly great at asking for it.

"Uh…" Dean scratched at the side of jaw, "I got in to Cornell."

Sophie raised a brow, "You don't sound excited about that." He sounded kind of annoyed actually. Not to mention the way his scent spiked.

Young omegas could never hide their emotional shifts. Sophie's lips quirked as she remembered how easily her own mother had been able to read her in high school because of it. Dean, it seemed, was none the wiser to this hole in his defenses.

"What's going on Dean?" Sophie reached a hand forward to lay lightly on his shoulder. She felt his muscles relax instinctively at the contact before tensing even further.

"It doesn't matter." Dean shrugged her hand off. He hunched his shoulders and leaned over his arms on the counter. Add a half empty bottle of bourbon and a glass beside him he'd look far too much like the Greg Parker she first met years earlier.

Sophie crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and huffed, "It matters to you. You're upset, you walked all the way over here Dean Parker, you might as well tell me." He fidgeted, his eyes darted up to her face. She shrugged, "I can just as easily pry it from Clark later."

"I want to be a cop."

He said it quickly, jaw set and eyes defensive.

"And?" Sophie raised a brow again, arms gesturing wide. Dean blinked at her. "You wanted to be a cop at six too, am I suppose to be surprised?"

Dean's entire posture shifted. His shoulders lowered as his hands dropped into his lap. The acid scent he'd been pumping into the air since his arrival lessened, lightened even.

"Your father didn't react well to this announcement did he?" Sophie sighed heavily and nearly collapsed forward onto the counter. Dean nodded. "Can't say I'd be happy if Clark wanted to be a cop either, and I know for a fact Eddie and his father are giddy about his staunch opposition to that career path."

"So you don't think I should do it either?" Dean's eyes narrowed and the sharpness in his voice was matched by a spike in his scent.

Gosh, he really couldn't regulate his shifts at all could he?

Sophie chuckled, "Not that it matters, but no, I think you'd be a good cop." She smiled slightly, something her mother told her when she presented popped into her mind, "Omegas are carers, Dean, we look out for our people. Each of us in our own way."

"My mom wants me to be a lawyer, she's had this plan since I was 10. When I presented, she said that proved that I shouldn't be a cop. Cops are alphas, maybe a few betas, they're aggressive."

Sophie rolled her eyes are the familiar stereotype. She crossed her arms, "One day I want to watch your mother meet Spike."

"My dad doesn't think I should be a cop either." Dean's eyes narrowed on her counter and Sophie had to resist the temptation to reach out to him again.

Dean wasn't Clark. He didn't want her hugs or a shoulder to cry on. He didn't need them either. He needed another omega, he needed someone who understood.

Sophie took a breath and planted her hands on her hips, "Your father's reaction has nothing to do with you being an omega and everything to do with the fact that *he* is a cop. An actively over-invested one at that."

"I don't-" Sophie raised her palm and Dean shut his mouth, shoulder sinking as he stared up at her.

"Eddie's worst nightmare is Clark becoming a cop." Sophie said bluntly. Dean's eyes fluttered. "Good cops spend their whole careers feeling guilty for not saving everyone. Protocol is black and white, but people are grey and good cops struggle with that, with living in the grey, with the stain of every wrong decision."

Dean didn't look away, or retreat, when Sophie leaned forward on to the counter. Her voice dropped lower, softening.

"Your dad loves you Dean, and he knows you have a good heart. Which just makes the prospect of you becoming a cop even scarier…" Sophie smiled at him, a tight, slightly water smile as she blinked a few tears away, "…because a cop like you will either spend your life patching up every shot straight through it, or you harden yourself to all the pain."

Sophie took another breath to steady herself, looking at the ceiling. She'd never considered how similar her husband and his sergeant were before this.

"Both options suck for those that love you," Sophie chuckled, shaking her head as she looked back at Dean. She wasn't quite sure whether she was seeing his father or her husband in the determined set of his jaw.

"I know being a cop will change me," Dean pursed his lips, his eyes flickered to the counter briefly before coming back up to meet Sophie's, "But if I can do good, if I can help people, I want to do it."

There was a hesitancy to his smile that made Sophie's fingers start drumming on the table. Greg, Ed, Spike - those were not the comparisons that were going to help Dean right now.

"When I was your age, I wanted to be a gourmet chef," Sophie leaned forward again, chin dropping to her hand as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"That's kinda what you do, isn't it?" Dean tilted his head, eyes scrunched up.

Sophie shook her head, "It's as close as one gets without a culinary arts degree." She smiled at him, lips trembling and pressed tightly together, "Which I would have gotten if my high school counselor hadn't convinced me that culinary school was too competitive for an omega."

"Oh." Dean stared straight into her eyes, frowning, "I'm sorry."

"You don't want to go to Cornell?" Sophie raised a brow. Dean shook his head. She slapped her hands onto the counter, "Then don't go."

Dean slouched forward as Sophie straightened, "But my parents-"

"Want you to be happy," Sophie tapped at his chin. Dean looked up at her, lips puckered slightly and eyes narrowed. She shrugged, "UT has a decent criminal justice program, psychology too. You got into Cornell, I bet you can get in there."

"But that's not being a cop." Dean shook his head, jaw clenching. Determination was practically dripping from his cheek bones.

Sophie rolled his eyes, "A lot of cops - especially the ones who make decisions - they have degrees Dean. The Academy has a prep course, you can take that too. If you're gonna be a cop…" Sophie laid a hand over Dean's, patted lightly, "...be the best one you can."

Dean didn't withdraw from her touch this time. He nodded, lips twitching up in to a smile, "I think I can do that."


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